Return To Brooklyn

Tonight at 7:30 ET the Nets open up their 2012-2013 campaign at home against the Toronto Raptors. This however is no ordinary start to the season for a franchise that hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2007. As the Nets take the floor tonight it will not be in New Jersey at the Izod Center, but Brooklyn on Atlantic Avenue, home of the new 4.9 billion dollar Barclays Center.

With the new arena and new location comes some of the games finest talent, including the resigning of Deron Williams and the addition of All-Star guard Joe Johnson. These two are not the only bright spots on a squad that plans to be atop the NBA’s Eastern Conference, the resigning of Kris Humphries, Gerald Wallace, and Brook Lopez give them one of the best starting five in the league.

Nobody could have predicted that Brooklyn would be opening tonight instead of Thursday against the Knicks, but the tragedy of Hurricane Sandy postponed the much anticipated battle between the New York rivals. As the hurricane recovery process continues, it is certain that many will find their way over to Brooklyn for tonight’s contest. Nobody prides themselves like a Brooklyn native and the excitement can be felt in all five New York City boroughs.

The game against Toronto is absolutely more than just one of an eighty two game schedule, tonight marks the first major league professional sports franchise in the borough since the departure of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1957.

Long has this arrival been waited for in a place that has produced some of the greatest ABA, NBA, and Streetball legends. Once the ball is tipped and the game is underway there is one thing that can be certain, professional sports have made their way back to Brooklyn and this team is here to stay.